Unita Ground Squirrels

Uinta Ground squirrels are common rodents in the dry meadows of northern Yellowstone.  Although they don’t live in densely populated “towns” like prairie dogs, they do live in colonies.  It is unusual to see more than two close together and rare to see seven of them clustered together.  This group includes the mother in the middle and six of her nearly grown babies looking nervously around.  They are nervous most of the time because nearly everything eats them.  Raptors fall from the sky on them, coyotes and foxes run across the ground at them, and badgers and bears dig them out of their burrows.